Tag, box, or sign stamp.



fiNu Mo'del.)

Patented July 4, I899. E. R. JONES.

TAG, BOX, 0:? SIGN STAMP.

(AppXication filed Feb. 25, 1898.)

I m iliiiiir UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDGAR R. JONES, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO' E. H.L. THOMPSON, OF SAME PLACE.

TAG, BOX, OR SIGN STAMP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 628,147, dated July4,4899.

Application filed February 25, 1898. $eria1N0- 67 ,66'7- (N d m To awhom it may concernpreferably of circular form and provided with Beltknown that I, EDGARR. JONES, of Kanan offset or projection 2 and with apair of sas City, Jackson county, Missouri, have incircular channels 3and 4, respectively, in its vented certain new and useful Improvementsupper side, said channels being arranged con- 5 in Tag, Box, or SignStamps, of which the folcentrically to each other. It is also providedlowing is a specification. with a cross-channel 5, connecting-channels 3My invention relates to atag, box, and sign and 4, and with a curvedchannel 6, which stamp; and it consists, essentially, of twocommunicates with channel? and forms pracpartsone a type-magazine ofpeculiar contically a' continuation of channel 5, said chanl0 structionand the otheratype-galley provided nel 5 registering with channel 6 andextendwith one or a plurality of grooves or channels ing at such anangle that a type may be transeither of which is adapted to registerwith a ferred from channel 4 to channel 6, or vice groove or channel ofthe magazine. versa, in a perfectly straight course in order Theinvention further consists in certain that the transference of thetypefrom the inr 5 novel and peculiar features of construction nerchannel 4 of the magazine to the galley, and organizations of parts, aswill be hereinto be presently described, or vice versa, may afterdescribed and claimed. be facilitated and accomplished without care- Theobject of my invention is the provision ful manipulation. The necks orupper ends of a magazine in which the type must be origiof the variouschannels are contracted, pref- 2o nally arranged right side up, butotherwise erably, by means of a thin metallic plate 7,seindiscriminatelythat is to say, there need cured by screws orequivalent means to the be no systematic or alphabetical or numericalblock. This plate, in view of the fact that it arrangement--and a galleyor stamp-block is slotted to form necks for the said channels, providedwith a groove or grooves which shall necessarily consists of threesections-7 to pro- 2 5 register with a channel of the magazine when jectbeyond the inner margin of channel 4, 8 it is necessary or desirablethat type shall be to project inward and outward, respectively,transferred from the magazine to the galley, of the outer and innermargins of channels 4 or vice versa. and 3 and inward of the margins ofchannel Other objects of the invention will herein- 5, and 9 to projectinward of the outer mar- 30 after appear. gin of channel 3 and inward ofboth margins In order that the invention may be fully unof channel 6, asillustrated. derstood, "I will proceed to describe it with 10 designatesa spring which intersects reference to the accompanying drawings, inchannel 3 at its upper side, extending subwhich stantially parallel withchannel 5, but ar- 3 5 Figure 1 represents a top plan view of a derangedfrom the neck of said channel a disvice embodying myinvention. Fig. 2 isavertance at least equal to the space between one tical section taken ontheline II II of Fig. 1. side of the channel and the corresponding Fig.3 is a cross-section of the galley or stampside of its neck, for apurpose which will be block, type being arranged in each groove ofhereinafter described. The spring is coiled,

0 the same. Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal preferably, upon a pin 11,projecting from section illustrating the style of galley or typesection9 of the top plate, and has one end block employed when stamping boxesor any bearing against a pin 12 and its free end at surface which may berough or uneven. Fig. the opposite side of said channel 4 against 5 is aperspective view of a block employed in the pin l3,'projecting fromsection 8 of the 5 securing the line of type at any desired point topplate, thearrangement being such that 5 in the galley. Fig. 6shows a pinor pointer by the spring may swing to the position indiwhich any desiredtype may be quickly sepacated by dotted lines in order to permit onerated from the othersin the magazine and posior more type in channel 3to pass by in the tioned in the galley. direction indicated by the arrowa. A simi- 50 In the said drawings, 1 designates a block, lar spring 14bridges the channel 5, being coiled upon a pin 15 and resting against apin 16 of section 8 of the top plate, while its free end bears againstthe pin 17 of said section, but at the opposite side of said channel,the arrangement being such that said spring may swing to the positionshown in dotted lines, and thereby permit a type to pass freely fromchannel 1 through channel 5. To return said type, however, the springmust be sprung by hand outwardly to the position indicated; otherwisethe type cannot pass through the passage 5.

18 designates a galley which is provided with one or more grooves 19 andwhich may be perfectly fiat on top, as is desirable for printing tagsand other flat surfaces, or areshaped, as indicated by Fig. 4, to printupon boxes and other surfaces which may be rough or uneven, andconsequently require to produce a clear and legible impression a rockingor oscillatory movement, as will be readily understood. In this casealso the end of the channel 6, which registers with one or another ofthe grooves of the galley, slopes upward, as at 6 tomeet the grooves,which in this case parallel the curved or arc-shaped face of the galley.The grooves of the galley, like the channels of the magazine, areprovided with contracted necks formed by securing to the block a topplate consisting of a series of strips 20, which project beyond themargins or sides of said grooves, as shown in the drawings.

In vertical alinement with the center of each groove and below the samethe galley is provided with a longitudinally-extending hole 21 toreceive snuglya pin 22, projecting from the extension 2 of block 1vertically below the channel 6, and thereby hold in alineinent with thelast-named channel the groove of the galley vertically above theparticular hole engaged by said pin. By this arrangement it is obviousthat after a line of type is set up in any particular groove of thegalley it may be slipped off said pin and a second groove be caused toregister with channel 6 with practically no loss of time.

For use in connection with this device the usual rubber blocks carriedin stock by those engaged in the manufacture and sale of rubber stampsand articles of kindred type are secured by glue or other material uponthe upper ends of rectangular blocks 23, which blocks are adapted to fitsnugly but slidingly in the various channels and grooves described, andsaid blocks in their inner and outer faces are grooved, as shown at 24.,to provide a neck portion which will fit snugly but slidingly in thecontracted necks of said channels and grooves, as shown clearly in Fig.3. The fact that said blocks overlap the flanged edges of the topplates, as shown clearly in Figs. 1 and 3, explains the reason why thesprings 10 and 14 must be arranged at some distance from the contiguousedge of the necks of said channels, as hereinbefore described. In otherwords, it would be impossiblefor said blocks to pass unless said springsare set back the necessary distance. The blocks are also provided intheir opposite sides and upper ends with semicircular notches 25, sothat the two notches of the contiguous blocks shall register, andthereby form a conical hole or opening, into which may be inserted theattenuated end of a pointer 26, by which the particular type-block 23 orspacer-block 27 may be expeditiously separated from the remaining blocksand transferred to the galley, which operation is accomplished asfollows that is to say, if it be desired to dispose the block carryingthe capital letter R, for instance, in the registering groove of thegalley the operator would insert the pointer in the hole between thetype-blocks R and S and then, pressing against type-block R, shove thewhole series of type in advance of the same around in the directionindicated by the arrow 0. until type R occupied a position in line withthe channel 5. He would then place the pointer in the hole at theopposite side of said type and shove it through channel 5 and channel 6into the registering groove of the galley. This operation is repeatedwith each type, and in this manner any word or number or combinationthereof may be set up in the galley in less time than it takes a skilledcoinpositorto select the type from a box when mixed indiscriminately,but not when arranged in separate compartments, though it will beunderstood that shippingclerks, for whose use this device is designedespecially, are generally provided with only a single box, in which thetype are indiscriminately arranged. This is the case because ashipping-clerk does not standin one position all the time and it wouldnot be convenient nor practicable for him to carry a large typecaseevery time he moved from one position to another.

In order to secure the line oftype, I provide a series of blocks 28,which may also, if desired, be used as spacing-blocks. These blocks 28are provided with cavities or holes 29 for engagement with the pointer26 in order that they may be conveniently shifted from one position toanother, and they are adapted to fit more snugly in the grooves of thegalley than the magazine in order that by friction they may hold theline of type firm. Said blocks are inserted in grooves from the openends'of the latter because they are entirely below the series of strips20, forming the top plate of the galley, and consequently can only bemoved under longitudinally-applied force; but owing to the fact thatthey fit in said groove with more or less friction their accidentaldislocation is prevented.

In practice the magazine preferably will be provided with two grooves,as shown in Fig. 1, one to contain a sulficient number of small lettersto set up any address and the other, preferably the inner one, tocontain capital letters and numbers in suflicient quantity.

IIO

Punctuation-marks may also be provided for, if desired; but these arenot generally used, as the shipping-clerk leaves sufficient spacebetween words to avoid confusion.

The spring is designed to deflect a type when moved in the directionindicated by the arrow Z) into the channel 6, so that no particular careneed be exercised in this operation and the work is facilitated. Thetype is properly positioned in front of the channel 6 by the right-handrotation of the line already described for the capitals. The spring 14is designed chiefly to prevent a block traveling from channel 6, in thedirection indicated by arrow 0, from'passing accidentally throughchannel 5 into channel 4, though it is obvious that this spring may bedispensed with without affecting the speed to any appreciable degree. Infact, it may be found desirable in practice to dispense entirely withthe inner channel 4 and channel 5. By so doing the diameter of themagazine-block would be necessarily increased to contain the requisitenumber of blocks; but this objection would be more than counterbalancedby the fact that there would practically be no chance for a block beingdeflected in the wrong direction by the guide-spriu g, as is now theease with respect to channel 4 and spring 14-that is, to shove thetype-block E, for instance, from the channel 4 through channel 5 thespring 14 must yield, as its tendency is to defleet the block past themouth of said chan-. nel and not into it.

From the above description it will be apparent that I have produced adevice of the character described which embodies the features ofadvantage enumerated in the statement of invention and which is ofsimple, cheap, and durable construction.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. .A tag, box and sign stamp, comprising two members, one a magazineprovided with an annular channel and a second channel communicating atone end with the annular channel, and the other a galley, provided witha groove adapted to register with the opposite end of the last-namedchannel, blocks arranged to slide in said channels and groove andprovided with type at their upper ends, and a spring intersecting theannular groove and adapted to guide type-blocks from said groove intothe communicating groove of the magazine when pushed in a certaindirection,

substantially as described.

.described.

spring intersecting the annular channel and arranged to deflect atype-block when it is moved in a certain direction, substantially as 3.A tag, box and sign stamp, comprising a magazine provided with anannular channel having a contracted neck at its upper edge, acommunicating channel provided also with a contracted i neck, a galleyprovided with a groove registering with the last-named channel, alsohaving a contracted neck, a sliding type-block adapted to work snugly insaid channels and groove and provided with a narrow neck portionembraced by the contracted neck of said channels and groove, and withnotches or cavities in their upper ends and at opposite sides,and aguide-spring intersecting the annular channel and arranged to deflect atype-block when it is moved in a certain dinotches or cavities in theirupper ends and opposite sides, a guide-spring intersecting the annularchannel and arranged to deflect the type-blocks when they are moved in acertain direction, and a pointer having an attenuated end to separateand move the type-blocks from one position to another, substantially asdescribed.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in the presence of twowitnesses.

EDGAR R. JONES.

Witnesses:

G. Y. THORPE, M. R; REMLEY.

